The Stinkbug Incident
by StellarDust2K
Summary: Tinker Bell helps Rosetta with a stinkbug problem.


Disclaimer: I acknowledge that Disney Fairies & associated content are owned by Walt Disney Company. I am not interested in profiting from this document. It is for the enjoyment of fans only.

Author's Note: Did I fall into a tiger pit, or what? I can't believe no one's had a go at this one. Hope I'm not treading on forbidden ground, but here's my 2nd TBell story.

TB2 doesn't provide us with much information; just that the bosses didn't know anything, and it was nasty. Stink bugs would be 1 or 2 fairy-hands in size, they like to suck sap from food crops, and of course, they can emit a stinky liquid. We can presume they may have encroached on fairy territory. It could not be an all-out war (too noticeable). Perhaps a 1 to 3-day skirmish.

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* * *

** The Stinkbug Incident**

It was a fine day to be a garden fairy. Cindy enjoyed working alone in the Pixie Hollow crop fields. She hummed to herself as she fluttered among the tall plants, scratching out a weed here, tying up a leaning stalk there. She was proud to be one of the few fairies who grew food for all the fairies of Pixie Hollow.

Cindy neared the outer edge of the field, and noticed some plants looking droopy. "That won't do." she said to herself. As she glided over for a look, she thought "_They were OK yesterday. Have I forgotten something? Water? Weeds? Earthworms?_"

She drew closer, spotting something on the stem of one of her plants, and 2 more on another. As she looked around, she saw every plant in this area had one or more... BUGS! Not very big, only 2 fairy-hands in size, but they were sucking the sap from her crop plants.

Cindy hopped over to the nearest bug and said "Shoo!", while poking it with her hoe. It mostly ignored her, but turned its back, and suddenly sprayed a terribly stinky liquid onto her dress.

"Oh!" she exclaimed, falling backwards. She sat up immediately, and sniffed. "Aak!" she coughed, her eyes and nose watering. "Oh, this is awful." she cried with a trembling voice.

She looked up again at the bugs, and noticed several other nearby bugs turning their backs to her. "Oh, no! No! No!" Cindy scrambled to her feet, and flew away in panic.

* * *

Rosetta was training a new-arrival garden fairy, when she heard a rapidly approaching Cindy calling her name hysterically. "_Cindy's a young, but confident garden fairy._" Rosetta thought, "_What could have twisted her petals like that?_"

Cindy landed too fast, and fell to her hands, but bounced to her feet. "Rosetta..." she cried, "All over my plants... smelly... awful... don't know what to do!"

"Now calm down, sweet pea." Rosetta said, "I can't tell what you're saying." She stepped up to Cindy, pulled out a hankie, and with one hand on Cindy's shoulder, wiped the tears and grime from Cindy's face. "Now Cindy," Rosetta said, "You're one of the happiest garden fairies I know. What happened, blossom?". She sniffed, "And what's that smell?"

"Bugs!" said Cindy, "On MY PLANTS. And look what they did." She stepped back to display the stain on her dress.

Rosetta turned to her now fearful garden-talent student, saying "You keep practicing, sprig." She then turned to Cindy, and said "Show me."

* * *

Rosetta and Cindy flew back and forth in a sweep pattern over the crop fields, trying to get an idea of the number of bugs involved. So far, it was only 1 or 2 rows at the back edge, but they found more bugs beyond their field.

"That's where they're coming from." said Rosetta. "Let's get a look at one." They landed near the droopy plants, and cautiously walked until they saw some bugs.

"Not too close!" said Cindy, nervously.

"I know, I know." said Rosetta, studying the closest one. "Oh, root-rot." she moaned, "These are stinkbugs."

"Bad?" asked Cindy.

"Bad enough. Tough to get rid of, and I've never seen this many. We need help."

"Now what makes bugs go away...?" Rosetta asked herself, thinking.

"Umm, birds?"

Rosetta looked at Cindy in surprise. "Birds... Good idea, snapdragon." Cindy smiled proudly. "I think we should try it," added Rosetta, "and I know just who to talk to. You stay here and keep an eye on things." She took to the air.

Cindy found her dropped hoe, and held it like a spear as she walked the line of bugs.

* * *

It took a while for Rosetta to find Fawn, who was teaching baby squirrels how to hide nuts.

"Hi Rosetta!" Fawn called, "What brings you into the wild country?"

"I've got a bug problem." Rosetta confided drearily. "You know any birds who'd like a meal?"

"Crows are always hungry." said Fawn, "And they're smart. They'll find every last one of your bugs."

"Flaptastic!" exclaimed Rosetta.

"Let's go find them." said Fawn, and off they flew.

* * *

It was late afternoon when Rosetta, Fawn and a noisy crow family dropped into the fields.

"Over there on the droopy plants." Rosetta said to Fawn.

Fawn flitted over to tell the crows, then back to Rosetta and Cindy. The crows hopped over excitedly, then stopped, eyeing the plants. They looked at Fawn, then at the plants, and then cawwed to Fawn.

"There's a problem." said Fawn, looking worried. "Are these the bugs they're supposed to eat?" Rosetta nodded. "They won't do it. They told me they taste bad."

The crows flew off, to look for other snacks before nightfall.

"Oh, fiddleheads." said Rosetta, "Now what are we supposed to do?"

"Well, it's the end of the day," replied Fawn, "maybe we can think of something at supper."

"I guess you're right." sighed Rosetta. "Come on, Cindy. It's your problem too."

* * *

After finishing their meal, the 3 fairies continued to talk quietly with their heads together.

"The trouble is that stinky spray." said Cindy, "Without that, they're just... bugs."

"If only we had some way to deal with that stink." said Rosetta.

"Or fight back against it." suggested Fawn.

"How do you mean, fight back?"

"Like, with another stink." answered Fawn, suddenly lighting up, "Another stink!" she whispered loudly. "A couple of skunk families could knock them out. We drop the bugs into baskets, and they wake up in Needlepoint Meadows!"

Cindy grinned.

"Sounds crazy," commented Rosetta, "But we've got nothing else. You think it could work?"

"Hey, I live with animals, and skunks can knock me out."

"Alright. When can you bring them in?"

"The problem's that they're on the far side of Pixie Hollow, and I've been warned about walking them through the Hollow again. I'll have to take them around the long way. So if I start early tomorrow, we could be there... maybe a little after noon?"

"In the meantime, we'll try to think of something else." said Rosetta.

* * *

Early next afternoon, Rosetta, Cindy, and a small group of garden fairies were gathered on a small hill overlooking the stinkbug-infested area, which had grown overnight. Nearby was a pile of baskets and lids.

Fawn was just moving the last little skunk into place, its tail towards the stinkbugs. She looked up at Rosetta, and gave a "Ready" hand signal.

Rosetta gave a "Go" hand signal back, and Fawn flew down the line of skunks yelling "Let 'em have it!". She then flew as fast as she could up to Rosetta and the group to watch.

The skunks sprayed, then the stinkbugs sprayed, more skunks, more stinkbugs. A greenish-yellow cloud grew from the area. The skunks and stinkbugs continued spraying until they were all sprayed-out.

Through the slowly spreading green-yellow cloud, Rosetta could see the stinkbugs, still on the plants, and seemingly unaffected by the attack.

"O-o-oh, this... is... a disaster." Rosetta said, disappointedly.

"I'm sorry, Rosetta." Fawn replied sadly "I really thought this would work."

"Ho-ho! What's going on here?" said a familiar cheery voice behind them.

Fawn and Rosetta both whirled about and tried to hide the view, but it was too late.

"Terence!" they both cried.

"What are you doing here?" asked Rosetta.

"Well, when you both didn't show up for pixie dust this morning, I thought I'd better find you." replied Terence. "Looks like you've got some problems."

"It's those stinkbugs." Rosetta protested, "Nothing we try seems to work!"

Terence listened with calm interest as they told their story. "Sounds like you fairies could use some heavy-duty problem solving. I think I know someone who just might be able to help. I'll be back before a smidge can drop." He flew off quickly.

Minutes later, they heard a fairy laughing in the distance. As she and Terence flew into view of the stinkbug area and green-yellow cloud, she burst into more fits of uncontrolled laughter, and fell at the feet of Rosetta and Fawn, still laughing.

"Tinker Bell!" exclaimed Rosetta, sternly, "This is a real problem!"

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry." laughed Tink, getting to her feet and sobering up. "I'd like to get a look at those stinkbugs, but I don't think any fairy could survive down there right now." She giggled, but covered her mouth and tried to turn it into a throat-clearing. "The cloud should dissipate overnight. How about if we meet here in the morning?"

"That sounds reasonable." they agreed. The skunks were moving around now.

"Oh, and Fawn might want to get her skunks home." suggested Tink, "Before someone catches wind of them." she snickered.

* * *

Early next morning, the stinkbugs had moved into almost a quarter of the crop field. Tinker Bell slowly approached some of them, with the rest of the fairies a safe distance behind her.

"Stinkbugs?" Tink asked, looking at the group.

"Yes." they all said.

"I'll be right back." and Tink flew off, close to the ground, looking for twigs.

She picked up a long one with a narrow fork on the end, and another with an S-bend near the end. Tink dropped the S-bend into the fork, and tied a reed around the 2 twigs near the fork base. She then flew back to the group with her newly-made, long-handled, 3-fingered tongs.

She walked carefully up to a stinkbug, gripped it from the side with her tongs, and pulled it off the plant. The stinkbug squeaked and sprayed, but away from Tink.

Tink turned and looked at the fairies, grinning. "See? Simple."

Cindy jumped and clapped with joy.

Tinker Bell saw Rosetta's eyes go big as she yelled "Tink, look out!"

Tink spun about to see what was wrong, and was sprayed head-to-toes by 4 nearby stinkbugs. She fell to her hands and knees, coughing and gasping for clean air. Through dripping eyes, she watched her vision tunnelling-out...

...and then she heard the tittering of bug laughter.

"_They can't do this to me!_" Tink thought, "_I'M A FAIRY! A TINKER fairy! I'll FIX them!_"

She struggled shakily to her feet, furious. Tink turned around and walked with determination towards Rosetta.

As Rosetta saw the angry Tinker Bell approach, she turned pale, took a step back, and clasped her hands near her chest.

Tinker Bell stopped before the nervous Rosetta. Panting with fury, she said through clenched teeth "I'll... be... back." Tink then blasted into the air and out of sight.

Rosetta quickly realized Tink meant her no harm. She turned to Terence, who couldn't resist watching Tink at work, and ordered:

"Terence, get after her. Make sure she doesn't step on any toes."

Without a word, Terence flew off after Tinker Bell.

* * *

Flying was just what Tinker Bell needed to clear her lungs. And her head. Oh, she was still angry... yes, yes. But now her tinker brain was buzzing with activity. Those stinkbugs were going to get FIXED. She abandoned all the clever "nice" ways she could have used to deal with them, leaving only some nasty ways.

Tink landed outside the tinker shop, and stomped in. She went straight for the pile of pots & pans, in for repairs, and selected a large cauldron, a couple large pots, and a ladle; all still useable. Tink then gathered other items into a pile with the pots:

- Packages of pine sap.

- Bags of pixie dust.

- Containers of snail slime.

- Field tool kit.

- Flint & steel for starting a fire.

The last item she picked out was her ring-pattern paint sprayer, which had turned out to be a disappointment. It was supposed to paint circle-patterns onto bugs and butterflies, but was too temperamental and inconsistent.

Tinker Bell looked at the pile, thinking "_I can't carry all this stuff!_" Fortunately her work-buddy, Cheese the mouse, was in the shop. By the time she got him hitched to a cart, Terence was standing next to her pile of stuff.

"Thought you could use a hand." he suggested, feebly.

Tink glared at him a moment, then started loading the pile into the cart. Terence helped, and also loaded some food and water for Cheese. They climbed onto the front seat, Tink took the reins, and they were off.

Tinker Bell stopped only once, at the soap-making fairies' shop. They could all smell the foul odor on her. Terence spoke quietly to them, as Tink walked out with a week's worth of their production.

This seemed like the longest ride Terence ever had with Tinker Bell. He wished she would speak to him, even yell at him, but he knew she needed to burn-off her anger in her own way.

Unknown to Terence, Tink had already cooled off, but she was going over plans and lists in her head. Eventually, they rolled up to the garden fairies waiting in the crop fields. Fawn and Rosetta stepped up cautiously.

"Tink?" asked Rosetta timidly, "Is there anything we can help with?"

"Of course." she said calmly. "I need a small fire under this cauldron."

"We can do that." said Fawn as they went to work.

Tinker Bell sat cross-legged on the back of the cart, and checked over the ring paint sprayer. The hand-pump still worked, and held air. The barrel still spun when a lever was pulled , and the air discharged through the barrel when the lever came back all the way. Good.

Tink got up to drop some pine sap and fairy soap into the warming cauldron. "Stir this up" she instructed, "Add more sap and soap as it melts, but don't let it boil or get too hot."

She went back to the paint sprayer, and modified it to drop a bigger load of liquid into the barrel. By the time she was done, the air smelled of lovely fairy soap, with a heavy bite of pine forest.

Tink used the ladle to pour some of the liquid into the paint gun's hopper. She aimed toward the bugs and pulled the lever. The device sneezed, and Tink examined the glob of liquid hanging from the end of the barrel.

"Hunh." she said. Tink spent several minutes cleaning the liquid out of the sprayer. In one of the pots, she then mixed snail slime and pixie dust, and smeared it through the inside of her sprayer. Then she loaded it up, and fired again.

This time, a disk-shaped blob spun from the barrel. As it caught the air, it formed into a bowl-shape, then closed into a bubble before it hit the ground.

"Ha!" shouted Tink. The fairies were starting to murmur behind her. She fired one more shot, to memorize the range. Now she was ready.

Tinker Bell walked over to the nearest stinkbug, aimed, and fired the paintgun. In the blink of an eye, the bug was knocked off its plant and trapped inside a sticky bubble.

The fairies cheered. Tink fired at several other stinkbugs, with the same results. Everyone was talking excitedly.

Tink turned to them with a satisfied smile, "Fairies, I think we're in business." She explained that they would need to coat the inside of their baskets with the snail slime, "And anyone who wants to collect the stinkbugs will need the slime on their hands."

Tinker Bell then turned to the plants and shouted: "Hear me, stinkbugs! The fairies of Pixie Hollow grant you a one-way trip to Needlepoint Meadows!" The fairies cheered.

"Tink, wait!" pleaded Fawn. She was holding the first bubble-trapped stinkbug in her slime-covered hands. "Look." The stinkbug had sprayed its stink inside the bubble, and was coughing and scratching to get out. "Fairies aren't supposed to harm any creature." She looked at Tinker Bell with huge eyes.

"She's right, Tink." added Rosetta. "We could get in a lot of trouble."

"_No!_" thought Tinker Bell, "_This plan can work!_" "You're right," she sighed "but you still have a problem."

"We sure do." agreed Rosetta.

"And I have a solution." continued Tink. "How about... if I take full responsibility. You just pick up the stinkbugs, fly them to Needlepoint Meadows, and make sure every bubble is popped."

"Are you sure about this, Tinker Bell?" Rosetta asked with gravity.

"Yes." replied Tink. "I'll be the bad guy, and you be the clean-up crew. If anyone asks, I'll just tell them I went crazy and couldn't be stopped."

Rosetta looked as if she had more to say, but said instead: "Let's get to work."

* * *

Tinker Bell's moods bounced high and low as she trapped bug after bug in her sticky bubbles, but every time she felt guilty, she remembered the laughing stinkbugs.

The garden fairy group relayed stinkbugs to Needlepoint Meadows non-stop, until the last ones were dropped off in late afternoon.

As Tink was loading her gear onto the cart, Cindy skipped over and said "Thank you, Tinker Bell." with a big hug.

"Hey," laughed Tink, "Now you smell just like me."

Before they left for clean-up and supper, Rosetta assembled the grimy and slimy group. Knowing what a gossip-mill Pixie Hollow was, she made them all swear "Fairy's Honor" NEVER to tell anyone about the stinkbug incident.

* * *

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Author's Post Note: (Pre-upload) I'll initially be rating this story as "K+", simply because of longer words and technical details. It never occurred to me to write to a younger audience, as every author is supposed to be 13+.

What do you think? Is this story OK to rate as "K"?


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